Love Me? Like You Do.

Chapter 22

"Just let me explain." said Jack as he accepted his and Brielle's lunch tray from the air hostess by parting the curtain.

"Okay." She said unsurely. 

She had been pleading to him to tell her everything. Now that he had agreed, she couldn't help but wonder if she really ready to hear the truth?

She took her tray of food and put the desert plate in front of her. Sugar had always been the perfect stressbuster for her.

"Brielle," started Jack nervously. To him, the task at hand was more difficult than firing an incompetant employee.

"Jack, the suspense is getting rather annoying. Tell me, please...it can't be that bad." she prompted.

"There was a fire at your house last night." He said in a rush.

"Oh. How bad?" Asked Brielle, surprisingly calm.

"I couldn't retrieve anything." said Jack as he looked at Brielle carefully. "Everything was burnt to ash." Jack grimaced at his own words. Honestly, sensitivity was not one of his plus points. Good thing he hadn't considered becoming a nurse, the patients would have hated him.

Brielle sat stony faced, pearly drops forming at the corner of her eyes as she stared into his. He hastened to hold her shaking hands as he relieved her of the fork and knife. The uneaten cake stood solemnly on the pristine plate as fat drops of salty tears fell on them.

Jack didn't know what to do, when she snatched her hands away from his own to wipe her tears.

"What are the other things you haven't told me?" she asked briskly choking back a sob.

Jack knew she needed to know the truth. The pain of a single arrow was often more than the stab of an entire quill.

"Amanda was in contact with Zachary before the...incident. She helped him get you ready for the night. He used a death threat against David to blackmail her." said Jack tentatively. He waited for her to cry, surprisingly she didn't. 

"I suspected that." she said her voice quivering. Jack pulled her into a tight hug. " She would do anything for David. But not me. You were right all along , Jack. I really am naive." 

She pulled away from his warm embrace and wiped her face on her sleeve.

"What else?" she said suddenly cutting out a large portion of the chocolate cake and stuffing it in her mouth. The sweetness filled her mouth and almost immediately her anxiety reduced.

"Zachary made a tape of you with whatever footage he collected. I don't know what he plans to do, but its probably something sick." Said Jack slowly as Brielle swallowed a large gulp of chocolate icing. "I asked a hacker friend of mine to access Zachary's and my uncle's computer and get rid of the video. He successfully did that, however..."

"Thank you." she said interrupting him. " you went through so much trouble for me."

"I'm not done yet." Said Jack coarsely. "The reason we're headed for Bangkok is to try and catch those filthy scumbags and retrieve your phone. Then I can probably turn that asshole's face into something uglier without fear of having the police misidentify him."

Brielle was too shocked for words. The woman who's honour he was trying to protect was her own. She couldn't help but feel warm and loved inside, despite everything that had happened. 

"Well?" Said Jack concern evident in his eyes. "Say something already."

"Uh um yeah." she said limping back to coherent speech. She avoided his gaze as she directed her own at his plate.